Organ improvisation

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The term organ improvisation generally refers to any form of improvisation on the organ . In the ecclesiastical context, this means improvising on the organ as part of the service , which is part of the liturgical organ playing . There is also organ improvisation in the context of purely (secular) concerts . Historically, organ improvisation also played a role as stage music and as background music for silent films . Furthermore, it is also in the Jazz and Blues known.

Organ improvisation in church services

The organ improvisation in the context of a church service is church music . It is subordinate to the liturgical event.

Organ improvisation in concert

In classical concert culture, improvisation is a unique selling point of the organ today. While concert-improvisational elements were also common in the instrumental concert of the 17th and 18th centuries, for example on the violin or piano, they were later increasingly pushed into the background. Since the 20th century, the boundary between “improvisation” and “composition” for many instruments has been parallel to that between jazz, ethnic music or light music on the one hand and classical music on the other.

In the history of organ playing, on the other hand, this demarcation has never been drawn so clearly. Here the interpreter, improviser and composer often meet in personal union. Famous examples include Johann Sebastian Bach , Abbé Vogler , Max Reger , Marcel Dupré , Olivier Messiaen , Charles Tournemire , Pierre Cochereau and Pierre Pincemaille .

The worship service and concert improvisation are closely linked in terms of craftsmanship, aesthetics and history. The fact that organ improvisation "survived" even in a concert setting is primarily due to its continuous cultivation as an independent discipline of church music .

Stage and silent film music

A special case within organ improvisation is the musical and illustrative accompaniment of plays, pantomimes, revue performances and later of silent films . This genre experienced its heyday in the silent film accompaniment on the cinema organ in the 1910s and 1920s - only to quickly disappear again with the advent of talkies.

Since the revival of old silent films with live music was rediscovered as an event format in the 1990s, improvising on the cinema organ has also enjoyed a certain renaissance. As a novelty, secular entertainment silent films were shown in church rooms, accompanied by a church organ.

Jazz and blues

Independent improvisation traditions on the organ have also developed in jazz and blues . In addition to the pipe organ, the electronic Hammond organ also played an important and style-defining role.

literature

  • Karl Heinz Dettke: Cinema organs and cinema music in Germany. Metzler, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-476-01297-2 .
  • Karl Heinz Dettke: Cinema and theater organs. An international overview. Tectum-Verlag, Marburg 2001, ISBN 978-3-8288-8265-2 .
  • Karin Ernst: Olivier Messiaen's contribution to organ music of the 20th century. Hochschulverlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 1980, ISBN 3-8107-2010-0 .
  • Michael Murray: Marcel Dupré - Life and Work of a Master Organist. Günter Lade, Langen 1993, ISBN 3-9500017-3-5 .
  • Herbert Schramowski: The influence of the instrumental improvisation on the artistic development and the work of the composer. In: Society for Musicology (ed.): Contributions to musicology. Vol. 13/1. Academia, Sankt Augustin 1971, ISSN  0005-8106 , 1971, pp 1-17.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Francis Erasmy: Olivier Messiaen's life and work  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF file; 100 kB), accessed on January 28, 2015.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.amisdelorgue.lu  
  2. ↑ See, for example, the improvisations of Georg Friedrich Handel on a theater organ as an early example, cf. Siegbert Rampe: Handel's theater organs and his organ concerts , p. 91 (PDF file; 0.5 MB), accessed on January 28, 2015.
  3. ↑ Alfred Reichling offers an overview: “Organ.” In: Ludwig Finscher (Ed.): The music in history and present . Sachteil Vol. 7. 2nd edition. Bärenreiter, Kassel 1997, Sp. 1024-1027
  4. ↑ Lothar Prox: Sensual Potential. The rediscovered silent film art. In: agenda . Vol. 16, 1993, No. 6, pp. 50-51, ISSN  0941-5491 .
  5. ↑ Jazz and Blues on the pipe organ - Barbara Dennerlein on die-orgelseite.de. Retrieved January 28, 2015.